by Elizabeth Greenfield

LOUISVILLE: Actors Theatre of Louisville has named Robert Barry Fleming as its new artistic director. Fleming, who currently serves as associate artistic director of Cleveland Play House, will begin his tenure at Actors Theatre on June 1. He succeeds Les Waters in the role.

“I’m thrilled that Robert will be joining the talented and dedicated team at Actors Theatre,” said managing director Kevin E. Moore in a statement. “He brings such robust and multifaceted artistic experience, as well as a deep belief in theatre as a space for all. I’m personally inspired by his vision for organizational collaboration that allows for transparency and transformation in equal measure. I very much look forward to our partnership as Actors Theatre enters its 56th season.”

Before working at Cleveland Play House, Fleming served as the director of artistic programming at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. Fleming will be the fifth leader of Actors Theatre of Louisville, and will bring his varied experience as an artistic leader, producer, director, choreographer, performer, teacher, and coach to the theatre. Fleming is also a native Kentuckian raised in the state capitol of Frankfort, about an hour from Actors Theatre in downtown Louisville.

“To come home and lead this singular organization with its distinguished legacy of artistic excellence is humbling and simply mind-blowing,” said Fleming in a statement. “I look forward to being a part of the collaborative, radically humanizing and inclusive artistic work at Actors Theatre of Louisville.”

New artistic directors, clockwise from top left: Nataki Garrett, Robert Barry Fleming, Stephanie Ybarra, Jacob G. Padrón, Hana Sharif and Maria Manuela Goyanes.

Credit Clockwise from top left: Jessica Kourkounis for The New York Times; Andrew Spear for The New York Times; Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times

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